AMONG THE SHADOWS

Even the lightest hearts have shaded corners to hide the black thoughts that come at night. Experience the darker side of YA as 13 authors explore the places that others prefer to leave among the shadows.

You’ve been there.

It’s dark and you’re comfortable. You’re just about to fall asleep when you can’t help but wonder if maybe tonight the thing you’ve always been sure exists will finally find you.

The best short stories stick with you, and the stories in this book especially, are meant to cast long shadows. The authors who contributed to this anthology are not only familiar with what lurks among the shadows, we choose to spend time there. Our monsters all live in different places—under beds, beside peaceful streams, inside ourselves, down mine shafts, in the sky. The darkness you’ll find in these pages knows no boundaries, so it’s only fitting that these stories cover many genres.

Reality can be just as terrifying as anything our imaginations conjure, which is why the darkness in these pages isn’t relegated just to flights of fancy or the paranormal. In choosing such a wide range of stories, our hope is that everyone will find something to make them clutch their bedcovers a little closer.

In realistic contemporary stories from Joelle Charbonneau and Kelly Fiore, depression, addiction, obsession, and isolation are all the stuff of nightmares. Other stories by Justina Ireland, Phoebe North, and Geoffrey Girard straddle the line, making us question what is real and what is false. Mindy McGinnis explores the question of not knowing yourself, while Kate Karyus Quinn speculates on the effect of learning that every terrible thing that’s ever happened to you has been manufactured for the entertainment of others.

Demitria Lunetta and Gretchen McNeil each take a closer, horrific look at human nature. Lenore Applehans delves into a post-apocalyptic future, while R.C. Lewis discovers the darkness that lurks on another planet in her science fiction narrative. Then of course there are the paranormal stories from Beth Revis and Lydia Kang, each digging into the many types of monsters that might wait for us in the dark.

Overall, you’ll find a wide range of horrors represented, including demons, aliens, and one of the most frightening creatures ever—human beings.

So set aside an hour or two, switch on some lights and come join us… among the shadows.

Meet Our Authors

Beth Revis is the NY Times bestselling author of the Across the Universe series. The complete trilogy is now available in more than 20 languages. A native of North Carolina, Beth is also the author of the new science fiction novel for teens, The Body Electric, as well as several science fiction short stories.

Justina Ireland enjoys dark chocolate, dark humor, and is not too proud to admit that she’s still afraid of the dark. She lives with her husband, kid, and dog in Pennsylvania. She is the author of VENGEANCE BOUNDand PROMISE OF SHADOWS.Visit her at JustinaIreland.com.

Lydia Kang is an author of young adult fiction, poetry, and narrative non-fiction. She graduated from Columbia University and New York University School of Medicine, and is a practicing physician who helps fellow writers achieve medical accuracy in fiction. Her debut YA novel, CONTROL (Dial/Penguin), was a Top Pick by RT Book Reviews and a YALSA 2015 Quick Pick. The sequel, CATALYST (Kathy Dawson Books/Penguin), releases on March 24, 2015.

Kelly Fiore has a BA in English from Salisbury University and an MFA in Poetry from West Virginia University. She received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council in 2005 and 2009. Kelly’s poetry has appeared in Small Spiral Notebook, Samzidada, Mid Atlantic Review, Connotation Press, and the Grolier Annual Review. Her books include Taste Test and Just Like the Movies, both from Bloomsbury USA and the forthcoming Thicker than Water from HarperTeen in 2016.

Phoebe North is the author of STARGLASS and STARBREAK, available from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her daughter, her husband, and her cat.

Joelle Charbonneau has performed in opera and musical theatre productions across Chicagoland. She now teaches private voice lessons and is the author of the New York Times and USA Today best selling THE TESTING trilogy (THE TESTING, INDEPENDENT STUDY and GRADUATION DAY) as well as two adult mystery series. Her YA books have appeared on the Indie Next List, on the YALSA Top 10 books for 2014 as well as the YALSA Quick Picks for reluctant readers as well as state reading lists across the country.Her next stand alone YA thriller, NEED, will hit shelves in Fall of 2015.

Geoffrey Girard writes thrillers, historicals, dark fantasy, young adult novels, and short speculative fiction. First appearing in WRITERS OF THE FUTURE in 2003, Geoffrey has since sold more than sixty short stories, including the TALES OF… series, a collection of original tales based on U.S. history and folklore. His novels include CAIN’S BLOOD, a techno thriller, and PROJECT CAIN, a Stoker–nominated YA companion novel, both published by Simon & Schuster in 2013 and translated into several languages. Geoffrey graduated from Washington College with a literature degree and has an MA in Creative Writing from Miami University. He is the Department Chair of English at a private boys’ school in Cincinnati.

Gretchen McNeil is the author of YA horror novels POSSESS, TEN, and 3:59, as well as the new mystery/suspense series Don't Get Mad, beginning in 2014 with GET EVEN and continuing in 2015 with GET DIRTY, all with Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins.In 2016, Gretchen will publish two novels: RELIC, a YA horror novel, and MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL, her first YA contemporary.Gretchen also contributed an essay to the Dear Teen Me anthology from Zest Books.

R.C. Lewis has taught math to teenagers for over ten years, including several where she found calculus is just as fun in American Sign Language. After a lifetime of thinking she didn't have an ounce of creativity, she realized she just needed to switch to metric. When she escapes the classroom, she writes geek-infused YA like Stitching Snow (2014, Hyperion) and Spinning Starlight (2015, Hyperion).

Lenore Appelhans is the author of two dark sci-fi novels, The Memory of After and Chasing Before, a short story collection called The Best Things in Death, as well the humorous picture book Chick-O-Saurus Rex. She will graduate with an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in July 2016. Lenore loves to travel, so you can often find her on planes - at least until she learns how to teleport.

Meet Our Author/Editors

Kate Karyus Quinn is an avid reader and menthol chapstick addict. She has lived in California and Tennessee, but recently made the move back to her hometown of Buffalo, New York, with her husband and two children in tow. She promised them wonderful people, amazing food, and weather that would... build character. She is the author of ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE and (DON'T YOU) FORGET ABOUT ME both from HarperTeen.

Mindy McGinnis is a YA author who has worked in a high school library for thirteen years. Her debut, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, a post-apocalyptic survival story set in a world with very little freshwater, has been optioned for film my Stephanie Meyer's Fickle Fish Films. The companion novel, IN A HANDFUL OF DUST was released in 2014. Look for her Gothic historical thriller, A MADNESS SO DISCREET in October of 2015 from Katherine Tegen Books.

Demitria Lunetta is the author of the YA Sci-fi duology, IN THE AFTER and IN THE END. She holds a BA in Human Ecology and has spent countless hours studying the many ways in which people are capable of bringing about their own destruction. In case the end is near, she always carries a good book and a chocolate bar--the two items essential for post-apocalyptic survival.